The Friend In Need
by meggynicaoidh
Summary: I re-watched 11x16 and got inspired by the Aubrey and Angela scene, I feel like they're pretty good friends. I would love to hear your thoughts!


**A/N: This randomly came to me while watching a recent episode and I wrote it in less than an hour. Let me know what you think, please!**

* * *

Aubrey strolled into the Jeffersonian, intent on bringing Dr Brennan up to date on the case as Booth had been summoned to Quantico to replace an ill instructor. He decided to look in on the bug man to see how his rats were. Hodgins excitedly told Aubrey about how he and Michael Vincent had built them a special living area in the hallway outside of Michael's bedroom, complete with temperature and light controls. Aubrey feigned enthusiasm while trying to cover his fear of the disease ridden rodents for the sake of the etymologist.

Aubrey turned to leave Hodgins to his work when Hodgins spoke up. "Oh hey, Angela decided to organize a last minute art show at The Founding Fathers tonight. She'd appreciate it if you could come along." He smiled proudly thinking of his wife's many talents.

"Sure." Aubrey replied. "I'd love to come!" He admitted to himself that the thought of food and beer did amount to at least 30% of his desire to go, but Angela was his friend, and you always have to be there for your friends. With that thought, he decided he'd go pay Angela a visit as Dr B was probably on her lunch break anyway.

He knocked on her office door, which was closed. Weird. When he knocked again, he heard no reply. He slowly cracked the door open. "Angela?"

He couldn't see her, but in the distance he could hear what sounded like soft sobs. Aubrey immediately began to feel awkward, like he was intruding, but his gut told him to stay and talk to her. He found her hidden between her window and a large filing cabinet, covered in a blanket.

He crouched down in front of her. "Hey what's wrong?" he queried.

"Aubrey?" She asked confusedly. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, I just wanted to say hello. I was on my way to update Dr B on the case… do you want me to get Hodgins?"

"No!" She yelled. Then she began to cry again. Aubrey felt incredibly helpless. He was so useless at comforting others, and seeing his friend upset caused him distress. He scanned his thoughts, took a deep breath and attempted to help.

"I know I'm not Dr B, so I can go get her if you want. But, uh, you can tell me what's bothering you, if you want. Or I can just leave you alone, if that's what you want, too. But I promise that whatever you have to say will stay between us, unless you say otherwise."

The sincerity in his voice caused Angela to look up. She took a deep breath to try and steady her shaky breathing. "Hodgins and I… Things have been really great recently. He's the guy I fell in love with again. He's happy, he's passionate, he's funny… And well, things between us have gone back to normal and…" she paused as she blinked back tears. "I thought I was finally pregnant." She blurted out and began to cry. "But… well, I'm not anymore."

Aubrey felt a sad pang settle in his stomach. He knew how much his friends wanted to expand their family of three. It was during times like this that Aubrey almost wished it was him that was paralyzed. He tried to think of a response, but couldn't. He merely gently rubbed Angela's back, before she embraced him in a tight hug and began to cry harder.

Maybe he didn't need to say anything after all.

Once she had calmed down a little after a few minutes, Aubrey spoke up.

"I'm really sorry you're going through this, Angela. But trust me, things will work out. You and Hodgins, you've been through so much for this to not work itself out. These things just take time." He comforted. Angela began to feel a little bit better, and her friend offered another suggestion. "Hey, why don't you and Dr B have a ladies night type of thing? What is it you do? I don't know. I guess you eat ice cream and watch sad movies or something." His eyes suddenly widened with panic. "Uh, well, obviously, maybe don't do that tonight, 'cause you know… Maybe you could just have veggie sticks and do some, I don't know, yoga instead?" he suggested lamely, flushing with embarrassment at his lack of knowledge regarding women.

Angela laughed in spite of herself, Aubrey's thoughts really were always focused on food. "Thanks for the advice, Aubrey. But maybe you could go get Brennan now. Besides, I kind of feel like eating a giant hamburger."

"Yeah, of course. No problem." He answered half-heartedly, wishing he could have been more helpful to his friend.

As he turned to leave, Angela interjected. "Hey, Aubrey. Thank you. Really." She smiled. He would never know how much she appreciated his kind words.

"Anytime." He smiled back.

* * *

"Hey Dr B, this is all the information we have so far about the Claire Randall case. We also have a list of potential suspects and their professions, so maybe you could match a murder weapon or something."

"Thank you, Agent Aubrey. Is there anything else?" She asked.

"Well, actually there is. Angela wanted to see you." He whispered.

"About the case?"

His mouth twisted from side to side. "Well, no actually. It's kind of a sensitive topic." He said meaningfully.

Brennan, having an IQ of above 150, immediately knew what he was talking about. "Oh, I see…" she realized, her eyes beginning to fill with tears for her friend. Angela was there for her while she and Booth had had trouble conceiving Hank, and she would always be grateful for her support. She rolled back and forth on her heals, debating how to approach the situation as she was not a "people person".

Aubrey noticed her body language and chimed in. "Maybe you two could have a ladies night?"

"I don't know what that means." She stated honestly.

Aubrey sighed deeply. "Well, Angela did say she wanted a hamburger or something. So maybe you could just buy her lunch and talk about it?"

"Yes, that sounds like an excellent idea." She conceded. "Thank you, Aubrey." She paced out of her office and into Angela's, where Aubrey saw Dr B embrace her in a tight hug. Brennan led Angela to the exit of the building, clutching one of her hands while giving her a one armed hug.

He placed the document on Doctor Brennan's desk and left her office. He went in search of Jessica and Wendell, to see if his girlfriend and football friend wanted a break from their dissertations to join him for lunch.

He felt very lucky to be a part of this family.


End file.
